1. Field of the Invention
In one aspect this invention relates to bore alignment devices. In a further aspect this invention relates to a cleaning system to be used for cleaning firearms.
2. Prior Art
In general, cleaning the bore of a firearm regularly after use is an essential part of good firearm maintenance. Various swab structures, cleaning rod structures and means for pulling and pushing a cleaning device through the bore have been proposed. As the cleaning device is passed by the muzzle of the weapon it tends to move at an angle to the longitudinal axis of the bore which in turn causes the cleaning device to scuff or abrade a portion of the bore. Repeated cleaning results in substantial wear and tear on the muzzle and in particular distorts and rounds the rifling on rifled barrels whether large or small bore. Since sharp corners on the rifling is critical to accuracy, the erosion of rifling seriously degrades the weapons accuracy. It has been asserted that using standard cleaning techniques will cause substantial problems with accuracy in about 1,500 rounds for most rifle barrels requiring a barrels replacement. This is substantially before the life expectancy of a standard barrel which could have a life of 6,000 rounds or more if cleaning damage could be minimized or eliminated.
It has been recognized that cleaning damage can be minimized by using means to center the cleaning rod in the bore so that the cleaning devices traverse the bore along the longitudinal axis of the barrel. One example is U.S. Pat. No. 4,803,792 which has a retention sleeve and beech mounting plug that cooperate to keep the cleaning rod aligned. Another technique is the use of an oversized swab structure disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 4,873,778. This device has an oversized conformable structure that is designed to limit compression so the cleaning rod will not contact the bore.
The prior art devices are designed to be used with weapons that have a limited range of variation in bore diameter. Weapons systems however have a wider range of internal bore diameters to be addressed. For example the military has to clean weapons of from 5 mm up to and including 50 mm in diameter depending on the particular weapon involved. This variation of 100 times or two orders of magnitude, in bore diameter makes present art systems unsuitable for a one size universal bore centering device.
It is an object of this invention to provide a bore cleaning system that has an associated bore centering device that cooperates with a cleaning rod to provide a cleaning device that can be used on a wide variety of different weapons having substantial differences in diameter.
It is a further object to provide a centering device that is small in size, compact to carry, and efficient and simple to position for usage.